Cadence Of His Last Breath
by IntoTheWilds
Summary: X-Men: Evolution Fanfic: M-PREG WARNING: 'His fur was almost luminous, eyes small spheres of cerulean with no pupil to mar the bright blue...' Life has become lonely, feelings change and when Kurt Wagner AKA Nightcrawler meets Skylar he is shocked to find he is falling in love with him, making Kurt question who he is and what he feels-REST OF SUMMARY INSIDE!
1. Prologue: Into The Night

_**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own X-Men: Evolution or its characters, except for Skylar who is of my own design :)__  
_

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **M-PREG WARNING: ^_^ Ha Ha. So after much begging, pleading, willing to sell her soul one of my best girlies (Naomi) has convinced me to write an Mpreg for the X-Men: Evolution fandom. HAPPY NOW NAOMI! She's friggin' ecstatic so she tells me lol Anywho, so I have indeedy temporarily lost my mind...in fact this whole idea came to me after quite a nasty fall a few weeks ago, swear to God busted my knee and everything! O.o  
_

_It's not my usual style, but I hope it turns out good and you guys like it all the same!  
_

_Emma xx  
_

_**SUMMARY: '**His fur was almost luminous, eyes small spheres of cerulean with no pupil to mar the bright blue...'  
_

_Life has become lonely, feelings change and when Kurt Wagner AKA Nightcrawler meets Skylar he is shocked to find he is falling in love with him, making Kurt question who he is and what he feels, while leaving him with the urge to catch hold of what is forbidden._

_But not all is what it seems and soon Skylar finds himself in an awkward situation, leaving Kurt to run scared._

_Gaining the oddest of allies, Skylar has a rough road ahead of him, of truths he would've preferred remained buried and an enemy who is unwilling to let him go._

_Kurt is no help and Skylar is caught between a hard decision and what may result in a ruined heart._

* * *

'Mutation: it is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow and normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward….'

—_Professor Charles Xavier_

* * *

**Prologue:**

_Into The Night:_

Silence, deep cutting silence filled his ears sending his heart into overdrive and had fear shaking him so forcefully, that the boy of sixteen was sure he could hear his bones rattle. Skulking across the malodorous floor, toward the guard he had just knocked unconscious, the teenager breathed a sigh of relief. Despite the thin trickle of blood seeping along the brute's temple, his chest rose and fell steadily, evidence that he was still indeed alive.

Through a slash in the cold stone of his cell, the brilliant moon cast a spear of light over the boy and his abused condition. Hair, that should've been snow white, hung to his mid back in ratty grey strands, caked with months of grime and God knows what else, his clothes were a ruin and his body was in desperate need of a good soak.

An evolved species of human known as a mutant the boy, Skylar, had been held captive for almost four years of his life, around when his powers first manifested. By whom, he had no idea, having been kept in the dark all this time until a new recruit stupidly took his eyes off him while serving him his meagre daily meal.

Heart rate returning to normal, Skylar dropped the length of pipe he had forced from the ground. An effort that had taken well over eight months considering the digging and numerous screws he had to deal with by hand, but it had been his only choice. At least while the two inch metallic bracelet remained on his right wrist, blocking his powers. The device released a current of four hundred volts solid, mind numbing electricity into his system if Skylar so much as thought of a word to do with his powers, leaving him fully immobile.

With a deep cleansing breath, the teenager stepped over the huge mound of a male by the door and a tray of lumpy something that past for meatloaf. Cautious, Skylar made his way into a dimly lit corridor body heavy from fatigue. Casting his electric blue irises over every nook and cranny, seeing no one, his head snapped up when an echoing whirring sound filled his large bat-like ears and just as his gaze met the gaping eye of a camera all hell broke loose.

Within the space of five seconds the flickering white lights had morphed into a vicious angry red, and a piercing alarm stole away the silence.

_So much for sneaking out, _thought the battered teen seconds before a secret door slid open and out spilled ten armed soldiers, each pointing a nine millimetre glock in his face. They didn't bother with tranquilizers, Skylar could shake them off easily with little more then mild fatigue, and a bullet however was a tad more effective.

"Don't move," bellowed one, a newbie from the shake in his arm, his crystal blue irises peeled wide at the sight of his target.

His shock was palpable, thick and clogging in the air and a fact Skylar was way too used to, to even care.

"If you're going to shoot me then shoot," snarled the teen, lips peeling back to show off a deadly set of incisors, "Believe me when I say, you'd be doing me a favour."

"Don't shoot," a new voice barked through a speaker on the wall, to the left of Skylar, "Easy now Skylar. It would be best if you surrendered…we don't want a repeat of last time, remember?"

Bile rising in his throat at the memory _of_ last time, limbs trembling, Skylar shook his head in defiance. No, no way would he heel like a good little dog to its master, not this time. With a vicious barking snarl, making the soldiers take a hesitant step back, Skylar turned and tore down the hall as fast as his legs could carry him.

From what he understood, he was on the lowest level of what was a well known genetics facility in Bayville, New York. How to get on the outside of it, was another story altogether. Automatically they began to shoot, but Skylar was too fast, even weak as he was, and dodged their attempts easily.

That is, until his luck ran out.

The bullets rained down in a shower of silver, sharp explosions and bright sparks and when white hot pain bloomed in his left side, Skylar knew he had been hit. A sharp cry escaped the teenager, his legs buckling beneath him and hitting the ground full force, Skylar shrieked feeling his ankle twist and snap. The wicked agony stole away his sight and breath, forcing him to empty his stomach of what little he had in it and already he could hear them, hurtling toward him.

"N—no," moaned the boy, "I-I'd rather die."

God knows how he did it, especially with four hundred volts carving him up from the inside, but ignoring the pain from his bracelet, Skylar clawed down deep inside of him and by sheer force of will tapped into his blocked powers.

The soldiers had surrounded him, guns on him, faces angry, but before any of them could do a thing the teenager disappeared in a flurry of black and blue smoke, leaving the men astonished, alarm shrieking in their ears.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

* * *

The world came back in high definition, loud and invading. Skylar found himself in a heap on a lush mound of grass, nature filling his nose and eyes, a startled owl shrieking in fury, the wind a loud roar and beating against him.

One big bruise the teen could barely breathe let alone move but at least his bracelet had shorted itself out and with what little strength he had, Skylar tore it off his arm, his powers fully back in his control. An inventory of his body's current state brought up nothing good. His right ankle was broken, swollen and even through the light coat of silver fur that covered his entire body; Skylar could make out a purpling mass marring his flesh beneath his pelt. A bullet lay lodged in his left side and even now he was still bleeding, not badly, but bad enough. After that scrapes and aches made themselves known and by sheer force of will the teenager dragged himself upright, hissing the second he put any weight on his right leg.

Needless to say, it wasn't his night, but at least things couldn't get any worse, and with that hopeful thinking, Skylar swallowed a curse when the cosmos just had to prove him wrong.

Light flooded around him, illuminating his position in frost white and of all people, the young teen found he was staring at a pair of cops with a huge torch, while the dumbstruck humans gawked at him right back.

"Holy mother of God," croaked the older of the two, his emerald eyes at their roundest, "Sanchez you see this?"

"Yep," Sanchez replied shakily and lifting an equally quaking hand the younger police officer called for Dispatch, "We have a mutant problem, possibly hostile."

Realising that was his queue to go, Skylar bolted—with difficulty—making his way deeper into the forestry area he had teleported himself to. Heavy footsteps told him he was being pursued and most likely by more then the two cops who had pinned him. Tired and sluggish, Skylar gritted his teeth and teleported again, which proved a mistake. Whatever remained of his energy drained the second his feet touched the ground, in a random alley in the southern end of Bayville. Groaning, head swimming, the sixteen year old stumbled and grabbed onto the edge of a reeking dumpster to keep his battered form upright and thank God he had nothing more to puke up, his stomach heaving painfully.

A sharp intake of breath told him he was no longer alone.

_Oh good God what now? _Thought Skylar lifting his head and setting his electric blues on a cowering girl, doe eyes huge, her hands wrapped tightly around a garbage bag.

"D-Don't scream," Skylar pleaded exhausted; "I'm not going to hurt you."

The girl wasn't convinced. Dropping the trash, the nine year old turned and ran back inside shrieking bloody murder. Quick as he could move, Skylar got out of there, moving through discarded rubbish, glass, even an abandoned washing machine that was now in several rusty pieces. Deeper into the alley, Skylar found nothing but long abandoned houses, homeless people that paid him no heed and a multitude of rats. Finding a window that wasn't boarded up the teenager crawled through it, finding himself inside a moth eaten and decrepit old living-room. Shivering against the cold, Skylar curled up in the warmest corner he could find and fell into a fitful sleep.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

* * *

The alarm blared loudly dragging a groan from the lump hidden beneath a mass of woollen bed covers. Shrill and irritating, the clock continued to shriek in wrath, until a spaded blue tail emerged from the brown bulge and hit the snooze button. Reluctantly, Kurt Wagner, a seventeen year old mutant untangled himself and planted two faun like feet onto the lush red carpet of his bedroom floor.

Stretching, with a jaw cracking yawn, the blue furred teen gathered up his toiletries and escaped to the bathroom before anyone else could get to it before him.

At six am, the sun was just kissing the horizon and apart from Ororo—who gave Kurt a friendly, but sleepy hello—he was the only one up, which was nothing unusual. Of course by the time he left the shower, returning to his room to dry and brush his sodden fur, the institute was bustling with the rest of its students, even if they were a rather disgruntled lot.

"Kurt," Kitty whined the second she caught sight of the older mutant as he left his room, "Scott's looking for you. You clogged the drain again!"

Grinning sheepishly at the fiery brunette, Kurt ran a three fingered hand through his thick mop of blue-black hair, tail moving lazily back and forth behind him as he walked.

"Not like I can help it Kitty," Kurt responded, with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Like, tell Scott that," Kitty replied indignantly phasing through a cluster of barely awake students earning a chorus of complaints.

Chuckling, not the least bit worried, Kurt continued toward the Kitchen in silence. Ororo was already there, the white haired woman busy preparing scrambled eggs while Hank McCoy—another blue furred mutant—stood next to her frying sausages and chatting animatedly. The odd student made their way about the breakfast table, and in the case of Jamie—Multiple—several of his selves wondered about, eating various plates and bowls of something.

Grabbing a plate of his own, Kurt busied himself at the toaster, plastering butter on two crisp bits of brown and filling a mug with tea, the seventeen year old teen took a seat next to his step sister, Rogue.

"Morning Rogue," said the boy cheerfully.

"Hey Kurt," Rogue responded with a yawn, taking a gulp of her orange juice, "Y'all ready for the big history test today."

Kurt nodded enthusiastically, along with Kitty, making Rogue grimace.

"I'm gonna fail for sure."

"Don't be silly Rogue;" Kurt chided reaching for a croissant, "It's only the Second World War, which is easy."

"Easy for you to say," Rogue responded grimly before snatching up a croissant herself.

Before Kurt could even respond, the kitchen doors opened wide and in wheeled Professor Charles Xavier, and just like that the perky chatter died when everybody got a look at the worried look on the Professor's face.

"Everything okay Charles?" Asked Ororo gently, setting down her coffee mug and making her way toward him.

"Turn on the news, there is something you all should see."

Reaching for the remote, Hank quickly complied, turning up the volume to max. A young blonde woman for the Channel Six news sat prim and proper at her desk; face a mask of seriousness while she gestured at full images of…..Kurt!

'_Reports are flooding in about numerous sightings concerning the Demon of Bayville, a known mutant who was seen only months ago during the disastrous setinal attack. Caleb Frederickson reports.'_

'_Thanks Marissa,' _beamed a shockingly handsome man from where he stood just outside a well known park in downtown Bayville, _'just last night Officer's Tim O'Malley and Alex Sanchez came upon a dangerous creature skulking about Bayville's local park.'_

'_He was the most disturbing thing I have ever seen,' _said Officer O'Malley when the camera veered in his direction showing a huge man with a receding hairline, _'covered head to foot in fur, with a friggin' tail!'_

With one push of a button the TV set went mute, just as a little girl lit up the screen and Kurt jerked in surprise when over a dozen sets of eyes landed on his person.

"Why are you looking at me?" Squeaked the boy startled, "I never left my room!"

"Well, you have teleported before by accident," Kitty said carefully, "Like, when you had that flu?"

He could hardly forget, Kitty didn't speak to him for two whole weeks after that particular incident, but still Kurt shook his head defiantly.

"I studied till nine, and then went to bed; I never left my room till six this morning! Professor, you can check my mind can't you?"

"No need," Xavier answered with a gentle smile, "Cerebro picked up on some minor mutant activity. I believe this is a new mutant and it is up to us to retrieve them."


	2. 1: Crimson Blood

_**EDITED: **I fixed some mistakes I noticed after giving it a look while starting chapter 2, nothing of major importance so don't worry lol  
_

_**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own X-Men: Evolution or its characters, except for Skylar who is of my own design :)__  
_

**_AUTHOR'S NOTE:_**_Anyone want to help me with a Codename for Skylar? :P I'm a tad stuck lol_

* * *

**Chapter 1:**

_Crimson Blood:_

Kurt wasn't a happy bunny to say the least. Because here he was, in broad day-light, school forgotten, blue and fuzzy for the world to see. Beside him in full uniform were Rogue, Kitty and Logan, all just as nervous as Kurt about being seen—well except for Logan of course.

They had already searched most of Bayville, after Logan had lost the mutant's scent outside of the park, only to pick it up again near a more unsavoury part of the small town.

"I don't get it," Rogue voiced eventually, clearly disgruntled, "Why aren't we waitin' for nightfall to find this kid, we aren't exactly safe like this?"

"Because," Logan snapped back in frustration sniffing furiously, "One of those Cops mentioned the boy was injured, and we need to find him fast, if that's the case."

Falling silent, Rogue picked through the debris with the others. Cats and Rats crossed their paths, dragging an irritating scream from Kitty at one point and disgusted grunts from Rogue. They foraged around overturned garbage cans, and had even befriended a homeless man who was happily feeding them. None of them paid him any mind, however, until the man made a gesture toward Kurt, watery black eyes surprisingly alert.

"Saw a kid jus' like ya last night, looked in pretty bad shape he did."

Clearly not concerned that four mutants stood before him, the homeless man plucked his hat from his head and rubbed a shiny scalp, hair long gone. Evidently, the man wasn't going to say anymore without the correct prompting and with an ill-tempered curse, Logan produced a twenty and set it into the man's outstretched palm.

"Which way," Logan demanded; while the filthy individual examined the crisp dollar note to be sure it was indeed authentic.

"Continue as you're goin' mate. Can' have gotten far anyway, not wit' tha blood tha' kid was loosin'."

That didn't bode well. Gathering speed, the group worked their way through the filthy alley double time, only to come to a dead end made up of several interlocking allies. Each one was more foreboding then the last.

"Great," grumbled Rogue folding her arms in disgust, "Now what?"

Sniffing Logan growled, "I can't get a scent, so we'll have to split up."

"I was afraid you'd say that," groaned Kurt.

Picking a dank dirty passageway each, the X-Men made their way deeper into the equivalent of human hell. Within minutes Kurt found himself closed off, with nothing but filth and a howling wind for company—he was vaguely reminded of _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire—_the alley was indeed a dreary maze_._ Pepper grey clouds heavy with rain closed out the light and cast eerie shadows over every surface they could find, black patches moving, snatching at the last small globes of illumination.

"Hello," Kurt called out, feeling like an idiot, tail moving back and forth in a nervous gesture, "Any mutants around here?"

_Lame!_ Thought the seventeen year old, but what else could he do? The young mutant's enhanced eyesight easily peered through the darkness, but other then a whole lot of rodents, cockroaches and the odd feline, Kurt was totally alone—or so he thought.

"And here I thought no one would find me."

Whirling around, exclaiming in German, Kurt's moon like irises fell upon a most intriguing sight. It was a boy around his own age, and he was most definitely a mutant. He was roughly five foot five with hardly any weight on his thin agile form. His fur was almost luminous, eyes small spheres of cerulean with no pupil to mar the bright blue and the rest of him, Kurt was still barely taking in. Hair that was possibly snow white when clean hung to his waist in ratted tendrils, a set of bat like ears jutting up from the boy's scalp, moving up and down now and again. Black and dark dusky-grey spots covered his shoulders and a scatter of black spots decorated his sharply defined cheeks.

Stood upon faunlike feet just like Kurt, he possessed large paws, four furry toes showing off lethal looking talons. His hands were more human looking, with a single digit missing and from the boy's back spread a huge set of bat like wings that fluttered nervously, a huge bushy tail moving back and forth behind him.

It was only then Kurt noticed he didn't put any weight on his right foot and his left side had been darkened by what could only be blood and a lot of it.

Holding up his hands, the blue mutant approached cautiously.

"I'm not here to hurt you," Kurt told him gently, "I'm here to help you."

To Nightcrawler's surprise, the boy actually snarled at him, baring a set of nasty looking fangs. Though it startled him a little, it didn't stop the seventeen year old and face determined he continued toward the badly injured mutant.

"I told you, I'm not going to hurt you!"

"S-stay away from me," the mutant snapped in reply, backing up.

This proved to be a mistake. The sudden move back put pressure on his bad foot and with a strangled cry; his legs went from beneath him. Surging forward, a sharp curse escaping him, Kurt caught the teenager before the boy impaled himself on a rusty pipe jutting up from the ground. Sure he'd crumble under the dead weight; Kurt was both surprised and disgusted to find the boy hardly weighed anything. In fact, he was even able to lift him—a tad awkwardly, mind you, thanks to his wings.

Trembling a little, the young mutant looked up at Kurt through electric blue eyes, glassy from pain.

"S-Skylar," he slurred after a moment, head drooping against Kurt's shoulder, "M-my name is Skylar."

The boy named Skylar promptly passed out after that, his breathing ragged and uneven. Unsure what to do, panicking slightly Kurt made sure he had a good hold of Skylar and teleported. Disappearing with a loud bamf and a whole lot of smoke, the boy practically landed on top of Kitty.

"Kurt!" Squealed the girl indignantly, before she got a good look at who he was holding, "Oh my God! You found him?"

"Yes," Kurt responded, "and he's in pretty bad shape, we better find the others and get out of here."

Thank God for their communicators, it only took a matter of minutes to gather the troops and after handing Skylar over to Logan—a tad reluctantly—Kurt teleported them all back to the X-Van, where it waited less then two miles away.

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* * *

Sat before a fire later that November day, Kurt nervously paced back and forth, tail moving this way and that in an agitated manner, while Rogue and Kitty sat talking quietly and Professor X merely stared out the huge bay windows at a nasty rain that had set in. He was baffled at his behaviour. Sure the others were worried about Skylar, but his was a tad overboard, only proven further when Beast entered the room and Kurt almost ploughed him down for news.

"Is he okay?" The blue mutant demanded frantically.

With a tired sigh, Beast pinched the bridge of his nose and looked past Kurt, ignoring him for the moment, to Professor Xavier, who waited patiently.

"He's stable, for now," Beast began, dragging a hand through his hair in clear annoyance, "He's been starved, beaten—bones broken numerous amount of times. His ankle was broken and he took a bullet to the left side, thankfully it missed all vital body parts."

"What do you mean _was_ broken?" Xavier asked curiously.

"He heals rapidly, no where near as rapidly as Logan, but faster then any of us and because of that the old breaks he possesses were most likely before his powers manifested."

Xavier let loose a rare curse and reigning in his frustration and anger, the elder mutant linked his fingers and looked up at Beast, "What now Hank?"

"Skylar is severely underweight, which at the moment is my main concern. His body is healing quite well despite that, but it is his mental state that may pose a problem…Charles, he shows all the signs of someone who has been held captive for a long period of time."

Kurt and the others gasped and to Kurt's surprise a righteous anger enveloped him and he almost saw red. Forcing his emotions to calm down, it took Nightcrawler a second before he realised Beast was talking to him.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Kurt asked him a tad sheepish.

"Skylar's asking for you."

Well if that didn't catch his interest. Kurt blinked at the older mutant, thoroughly flummoxed for a moment.

"Me? He's asking for me? Why?"

"I'm not sure Kurt," Hank replied with a half smile, "He just asked for the blue mutant."

Hank's half smile had Kurt flushing beneath his four. It was just his luck that shortly after his mutual break-up with Amanda, Beast would figure out Kurt's tastes leant more toward the opposite sex. Surprisingly everyone came to the same conclusion even before he broke up with Amanda in an awful state of confusion naturally. But they were at least completely cool with it. Kitty often tried to set him up, and the guys teased him mercilessly not that Kurt minded.

With a resigned sigh, the seventeen year old teleported down to the lower levels and made his way to the infirmary, coming upon an amusing sight.

Logan tugged a clean t-shirt over the head of an even cleaner Skylar. Disgruntled, the mutant wriggled and Kurt was surprised when, of all things, Logan chuckled.

"This would be easier without your wings kid."

"Oh, well I'm sorry, I should've unclipped them first," Skylar snapped sarcastically as he got into the clothing himself, unfurling his great wings for a second.

Logan watched him fold them tight to his back and asked, "Can you fly?"

"Never tried," was Skylar's only response.

Despite his bad attitude, Logan found he actually liked the kid.

"Well, you can learn," responded the black haired mutant gruffly, "You comin' in or what elf?"

Kurt jumped, which was stupid, he shouldn't have been surprised that Logan had known he was there. He'd have heard him teleporting down, and would've smelt him a mile off.

"Beast says Skylar was looking for me," Kurt said as he entered the room, eyes darting toward the injured mutant, shocked when his heart did a little flip.

Skylar simply nodded, wings rustling behind him, "You brought me here."

It wasn't a question, more a statement of fact and if Kurt wasn't mistaken, his tone was clipped and annoyed. The blue furred mutant scowled, hackles raised and eyes narrowing.

"Would you rather I left you there to die?" He snapped, just barely biting back an infrequent snarl.

"Actually, that was the plan," Skylar replied, his words barely audible.

Astounded, Kurt watched speechless as the silver furred teen rolled onto his side, facing away from him. Skylar curled up into the foetal position and looked so horribly defeated that even Logan couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Several times Kurt opened his mouth to say something further, but realised there was nothing he could say. The brutalised teen was hurting at a level he could barely comprehend, making anything he said or did a worthless attempt of comfort and nothing Skylar would want or appreciate.

With a final shake of his head, the blue mutant teleported from the room, leaving Skylar to his misery and silent tears.


	3. 2: Another Fuzz Ball

_**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own X-Men: Evolution or its characters, except for Skylar who is of my own design :)__  
_

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I really think this chapter sucks, so I apologise if any of you facepalm at the state of it! I promise Chapter 3 will be sooooooo much better! _

* * *

**Chapter 2:**

_Another Fuzz Ball:_

Awareness returned slowly, and with it several things became known. Grimacing, Skylar sucked in a breath and waited for the fist in his belly to loosen, burying his face in the plump pillow behind his head in order to stifle a whimper. His hunger was fierce, tearing his insides to shreds, dragging nausea forward along with it, but after four years Skylar was used to it. Like most mornings, the sensation passed eventually and the mutant was able to breathe easier. Panting a little, Skylar untangled himself from his covers and looked around in bewilderment. He was in a large bedroom, the walls mushroom brown, with fine carpet and plush furnishings. They must've moved him while he was sleeping, the sixteen year old figured, and kicking the quilt completely off the teen got horizontal.

When the room pitched, he wasn't the least bit surprised. It was going to take a little more then a saline drip and a stew broth to get his energy levels back up. First thing was first—breakfast.

Deciding he was perfectly presentable with his tussled hair, crumpled fur and wrinkled clothing, Skylar left his room, silent as a mouse. The burgundy carpet felt lovely against the soft pads of his paws and no longer did the boy feel an overwhelming cold clawing at his bones. It was heaven compared to the cell he had come to know. Stopping, the teen stared horrified. His reflection looked back at him from a huge antique mirror hung on the wall across from his door, the sight was appalling. He could've been a poster child for the third world! Even in a t-shirt and cut-offs, his emaciated condition was obvious. His cheeks were disgustingly hollow, eyes sunken, the cobalt shade almost lifeless, like that of a dying man. Even through the tee, Skylar could see each of his ribs and the sharp points of his hip bones. His mid-riff was non-existent, muscles and fat a figment of his imagination. It was an absolute miracle he was still alive.

Swallowing, he shook his head. In a few weeks things would be different, he'd get back to his former health. Skylar turned away from the corpse like image, and sucked in a breath. Things happened pretty quickly. Two teens came hurtling around the corner laughing and joking, a blonde and a brunette. The blonde lost his footing and the next Skylar knew he was slamming into him with the force of a cannonball, sending them both smashing to the ground in a painful heap.

The wind forcefully knocked out of him, his wings breaking the worst of his fall, Skylar placed a pawed foot at the centre of his attackers chest and kicked him off, sending the boy careening into the brunette.

"Hey!" Snapped the brunette sharply, "What's your problem?"

"Leave it Bobby," said the blonde getting to his feet, pulling Bobby up with him. "It was my fault. I knocked him down."

"That doesn't give him the right to kick you Sam!" Bobby retorted fiercely, "Who the heck are you anyway?"

"His name is Skylar," butted in a new voice, tone gruff and displeased, "And Cannonball's right, it was his fault."

Stepping past the pair, Logan reached down, holding a hand out toward the sixteen year old, but with a scowl, the young mutant ignored the help and hauled himself upright, wings rustling restlessly.

"How did you sleep kid," Logan asked, disregarding his bad attitude.

"I slept," was Skylar's reply "Then again, it was the sedative that made sure of that wasn't it?

Logan blinked, a rare burst of surprise changing his features, "How could you tell?"

"Four years in captivity, I'm not an idiot."

Sam and Bobby listened into the conversation for about five seconds more, until Logan barked at them to get moving. They had a Danger room session before school. Skylar didn't bother asking what that entailed and leaving the brusque mutant scolding the boys, the sixteen year old made his way downstairs and followed a bunch of animated chatter to a kitchen that could only be described as chaotic. Several youngsters were moving around, some still in pyjamas, others eating as fast as possible while doing last minute homework.

Skylar didn't recognise a lot of them, except for Hank, the Professor and the blue furred mutant who Logan had referred to as 'elf.'

"Skylar, good morning," called out Professor Xavier once he noticed the teenager, smiling pleasantly at him.

The ruckus was quick to die down, and several of the students were gaping at him, but Skylar ignored them.

"Good morning," he said after a moment, showing he could indeed be polite when he wanted to be.

Jerking, Skylar looked down and found a kid of only about twelve holding his tail and staring at in fascination.

"Wow," the boy exclaimed, "you're like a mix of a bat and a wolf."

He probably shouldn't have, but he couldn't help it. A nasty snarl tore up his throat and the boy stupid enough to get too close, stumbled away from him, eyes wide.

"Don't touch," hissed Skylar angrily.

The ferocious growls died down before he turned back toward the rest of his audience. Xavier looked annoyed, but Skylar didn't care in the slightest. For several minutes a wicked silence fell, until Ororo set a plate down piled with eggs and bacon. Reaching toward Skylar with a warm smile, the African beauty asked calmly, "Breakfast?"

Skylar flinched away from her touch, but nodded at her question.

"Yes please," he barely whispered.

Through Ororo's encouragement, within minutes, Skylar was enjoying some proper food and once everyone got over their shock, they got back to their activities.

Xavier studied the teenager casually over his coffee mug, noting his hunched appearance. His rather large animalistic ears moved nervously, and Xavier noted he had a habit of opening and closing his wings, as if he were doing it almost subconsciously. His movements were jittery; he resented physical contact of any kind and his azure irises darted over his surroundings on a constant basis. In short, the boy was scared out of his wits.

"What is your last name?" Xavier asked abruptly.

Startled, Skylar swallowed the last of his bacon and carefully set down his knife and fork. Shrugging his shoulders the teen ran his hand through his snowy hair, the gesture clearly filled with anxiety.

"If you must know, I was given the name Skylar Westerna," The boy responded.

"What do you mean you were given your name?" Asked Logan, discarding the newspaper he had been absorbed in.

Skylar twisted to look at him, "I've been in care my whole life. Some cop found me when I was two and I had no name, I referred to myself as a number…number 326, whatever that was supposed to mean. The carers gave me my name."

"Did you ever get adopted?"

Setting his gaze on a brown haired girl, Skylar shook his head, "No…eh?"

"Kitty, my name is Kitty," answered the girl brightly.

This was becoming uncomfortable. Skylar wasn't in the mood to be sharing his life history, especially when he knew where this was going.

"Look, I know where this is going, so let me save you the trouble. For the last four years I was held in a cell, I was tortured and occasionally I was handed over to a sicker bunch…But I'll spare you the gory details," Skylar said, becoming shakier the more he spoke, "I was starved, beaten and I don't know why. All I know is their boss, who I never saw, wanted something from me, and the longer I couldn't produce whatever it was he hurt me in ways you wouldn't even see in your nightmares…"

A hush fell and it was horrible. Skylar didn't realise he was crying until Ororo set a handkerchief in front of him. The shakes came, like they tended to when he was overwhelmingly upset, and it took three tries for him to grasp the hankie. He wiped the tears away roughly and attempted to collect himself, breathing in and out until the panic attack subsided and the trembling ceased.

When Kitty set a large glass of water down in front of him, Skylar smiled weakly at her and took it gratefully.

"Thank you," croaked the mutant once he had guzzled down its contents.

"I didn't intend on upsetting you," Xavier said once the goings-on resumed and most of the students left to go get ready for school, "We'll need to know where you were kept."

"Why?" Skylar demanded angrily, "It's hardly relevant."

Logan snorted and parked himself directly beside Skylar.

"Cut the crap kid, next you'll tell us you can't remember."

Skylar scowled at the brusque mutant, "I'm not ready for this conversation. If and only _if_ I want to tell you about what happened to me in detail, I will. But you could at least let me make that choice."

Xavier nodded in understanding, folding his hands casually before him.

"I suppose you have that right," the Professor began carefully, "but you will have to tell us eventually. If there are people out there harming mutants I want to know about them."

Skylar glowered darkly and opened his mouth to argue, only to think better of it. With a reluctant shrug, his only sign of acceptance, the teen got to his feet and went to the sink with his plate, dropping it into the sudsy water for washing, wondering briefly what he may have gotten himself into.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

* * *

Once the students vacated the premises, Logan went on a bike ride and Hank disappeared down to the lower levels, the institute was pretty quiet. Skylar took time to explore, coming upon a huge library not long after breakfast. He had never been much of a reader, but he was willing to start, anything to make a dent in the boredom. Most of the volumes were old, mostly ones from Charles Dickson's, Emily Bronte and Herman Melville. Finding Brom Stoker's Dracula sat on one of the lower shelves; Skylar snatched it up and proceeded outside.

It was cloudy, but at least it was dry and being covered in fur was a great way to stay warm. Making his way toward a huge fountain that took up residence only a few feet from the mansion, Skylar sat down to read.

He was almost half way through when the gates opened and the youths of the Xavier institute returned home. Not that he paid them any attention. It was only when a shadow moved over him, that the sixteen year old bothered looking up and found the blue mutant watching him, or at least he thought it was him.

"Can I help you?" Skylar asked disgruntled, frowning at his Caucasian appearance and lack of tail.

"Kurt," replied the boy, "My name is Kurt Wagner. I never got a chance to tell you last night."

"What happened to the fur?"

Grinning mischievously, Kurt touched a finger to his wrist watch. For a second his form became blurry and the next Skylar knew he was looking at Mr blue and fussy. The teen couldn't help it, his jaw dropped in astonishment and he grasped Kurt's arm, pulling it toward him.

"How did you do that?" He exclaimed, inspecting the watch with wide eyes.

"The Prof made it for me, so I could fit in as normal," Kurt explained, "I'm sure he could do the same for you."

"I guess," Skylar responded letting him go, "I'm gonna go get something to eat, wanna come?"

Kurt blinked mildly surprised.

"Sure, I guess," he started, only to frown and finish with, "I don't get you."

"What's to get?" Skylar asked, getting to his feet and stretching, setting his cerulean hues on Kurt.

"One minute you're biting my head off, the next you're completely cool with me," Kurt retorted exasperated, "you can't be both!"

Skylar rolled his eyes, "In case you haven't noticed Kurt, I'm pretty messed up. It is possibly gonna take several shrinks to set me straight and it isn't something I enjoy!"

He was crying again, _fan-fucking-tastic_, thought the teen furiously

"I'm sorry," he croaked, "everything is so screwed up. I was happy and safe, even if it was in care and then these men came and I just can't erase the images. I can't make the hurt go away…I-I just want it to stop…Please…Oh God…"

God knows what made him do it, but moving forward—despite his aversion to contact—Kurt wrapped his arms about the smaller boy. Rather then shove him away, the German teenager was surprised when Skylar hugged him back, burrowing his face into his neck and crying until his body practically rattled from misery.

"What did they do," Kurt asked softly, once the boy had calmed down.

"Everything they could think of," Skylar sniffled against Kurt's throat, just barely swallowing a sob, "B-but on the night I escaped…A new man came. He didn't say anything except for it being the l-lesser of two evils and then…then h-he raped me!"

Kurt went completely rigid, moon like eyes as big as dinner plates. _Oh please God no! _They couldn't have! How could anyone do something so diabolical to another person? But of course that kind of thing happened a lot more then Kurt cared to admit. Closing his eyes, swallowing down the sudden rush of temper, the seventeen year old gently pulled Skylar off him and held him at arms length, setting a stern look upon him.

"You need to go to Hank," Kurt told him firmly.

"N-no," Skylar whimpered shaking his head, "Don't make me Kurt! Please!"

"He could've hurt you badly Skylar, we need to get you examined," Kurt insisted, adding softly, "You're safe with me, I promise. Nothing bad will happen to you."

Tears spilled free, hot and frothy, but Skylar no longer protested and nodding, he let Kurt guide him back inside, sticking close to the blue furred mutant the whole time.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

* * *

Skylar was asleep, chest rising and falling in calm succession. He had asked Beast not to knock him out, but the male thought a sedative would make the whole ordeal easier. His rapid healing had dealt with any major damage, though some healing bruises showed up as rather obvious evidence.

"Now I get why he doesn't like being touched," said Logan, interrupting Hank's meandering thoughts, "Christ Hank, it's not true is it?"

"I'm afraid it is," Hank answered pinching the bridge of his nose, "There's no internal bleeding, or if there was it's gone now and by tonight any other marks will be gone too. Kurt's pretty upset."

"Yeah, I just saw the elf with Charles and Rogue. It's taking quite a bit to calm him down."

"Can you blame him?"

"Not in the slightest."

Taking a deep breath, Logan shook his head, brown eyes burning with temper.

"I don't care what the kid says; I think it's time we investigated," growled the elder mutant, looking toward Hank and daring him to protest.

He was surprised, however, when Hank's face took on an equally pissed off, determined look and after a moment he threw aside his stethoscope.

"I'll go fire up the blackbird."


	4. 3: Truth And Lies

**DISCLAIMER:**_ I do not own X-Men: Evolution or its characters!_

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_Soooooo sorry about the delay! Laptop issues, hopefully updates will run a lil smoother from now on! Anywho enjoy Chapter 3 :D_

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

_Truth and Lies:_

The blackbird touched down, silent as a butterfly, just outside a huge facility that looked as if it had been abandoned only hours previous. Xavier had gotten the location out of Skylar's mind—which was quite the task considering the extremely powerful mental barriers the boy possessed—and now here they were, searching for any answers they could get. Doors hung open, gaping like screaming mouths and there was no lights suggesting activity, in fact, there was no life at all.

"I don't like this," voiced Beast coming up beside Wolverine, "It looks as if the place was completely evacuated."

Sniffing, Wolverine growled, "It smells like a DNA lab, just like the one Magneto messed with Kurt in."

Beast looked at the mutant wide eyed, "You don't think?"

"Oh, I very much think. Skylar's got a lot of anger in him, and he's not telling us anything, something tells me they did more to him then the kid is letting on."

Letting out a colourful and rare curse, Beast dragged a hand through his thick mane of blue hair, eyes taking in their dreary surroundings.

"We best go inside, we might find something."

"Agreed," Logan responded, unsheathing his claws just in case.

The inside of the building screamed abandonment. Doors were left wide open, some loose on their hinges, while broken furniture lay strewn all over the place. In one room in particular, destroyed lab equipment littered the place, vials all over the floor, congealing pools of Lord knows what drying in patches.

"Wolf," Logan sniffed, "bat and clouded leopard DNA."

Beast blinked, "Characteristics Skylar has from all three, you don't think…?"

"That they spliced his DNA with theirs? Oh yeah, big time," Logan answered, eyes narrowed in temper, "The question is, why?"

"Well, why did someone graft adamantium into your bones?" Beast voiced out loud, "To make you stronger, more of a lethal weapon. It's possible that was their intention for Skylar."

"Same reason we figure Magneto messed with Kurt, to see how much stronger a mutant could become."

Noticing something, Beast crouched and among the shattered debris he located a small USB drive. A crack ran through the tiny device, suggesting someone had attempted to destroy it, but weren't successful. Dusting off somewhat miniscule shards of glass, the blue furred mutant held it toward his gruffer comrade.

"What do you make of this?"

"I say someone got careless, is what I think," Logan responded with a grin, "What's the bet's whatever went down with Skylar is on that?"

"It's a very high possibility, but it's damaged and will probably take some time and effort to retrieve what is ever on it," Beast explained with a grin of his own, "Of course, I'm always up for a challenge."

Before Logan could respond, a noise drew his attention. Hand up he silenced Beast with a single gesture and carefully moved toward the door that lead into the lab. Footsteps, hasty footsteps and a gun being cocked, they were no longer alone. Cautious, Logan moved like a man military trained and just as one big booted foot came around the corner, the mutant was on the idiot with a fetish for guns.

The human went down with a curse, which was pretty much, all he managed before a knee was lodged firmly against his throat. The AK-47 flew from his hands skittering across the floor where it landed just at Hank's feet. Startled, green eyes lifted to get a better look of the blue furry mutant and he realised he was in for a world of hurt.

"Jesus! Please don't kill me," he begged pathetically.

"That depends on what you have to say for yourself bub," Logan growled.

The male was close to wetting himself from fright and clearly had no intention of withholding information, not with a very pissed off mutant pinning him to the floor, one he knew of from his boss.

"I-I was told to wait here, i-in case the kid came back!"

"You mean Skylar?" Beast questioned, eyes narrowing, exchanging a look with Logan, "Do you know what they did to him?"

The green eyed man shook his head fiercely, "I'm just the muscle they tell us nothing, I swear!"

"You feel like believing him?" Logan growled tightening his grip, making the human squawk and his bowels expel in a messy puddle beneath him.

Beast sniffed in disgust shaking his head, "Let him go Logan, this pig knows nothing."

"Yeah, but what's the bets his muscle was used in breaking a few of Skylar's bones?"

Beast's expression suddenly darkened, navy blue eyes practically glowing with temper when the very same notion dawned on him. A snarl tore from the mutant making the human cower even more so then he was, green eyes huge, and sweat running over his cheeks.

"Did you," Beast snarled, "hurt the boy?"

His breathing erratic, the soldier looked between his two captors and before he had even finished nodding, a pain filled scream burst forth from his lips deafening the night, sending nearby birds scattering.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

* * *

The next morning Skylar came too, groggy and disorientated and realised immediately to his annoyance they had sedated him, that and he wasn't alone. Kurt lay curled up awkwardly in a chair by his bedside, hand gripping a battered copy of _City of Bones _while the odd German phrase escaped the young teen, his tail swinging back and forth as he slept.

Sitting up the mutant winced when his head swam a little a pained grumble roiling in his gut. God damn he was hungry. Chewing his lip, the sixteen year old wondered what his odds were of sneaking to the kitchen without a babysitter. Slim to none as it would seem, because the second a pawed foot hit the floor, Kurt was awake and trying to shove Skylar back into bed.

"You shouldn't be up!" The German boy scolded fervently.

"I'm hungry," Skylar protested struggling against the heavier boy and with an angry curse Skylar teleported right out of Kurt's hands, reappearing at the door.

His forward momentum compromised, Kurt hit the bed face first with a much undignified squawk and by the time the seventeen year old righted himself, Skylar was gone. It was times like these Kurt wished he possessed Logan's wicked sense of smell, of course, Skylar had said he was hungry and it didn't take a rocket Scientist to know where he had gone.

With a loud bamf and a single thought, the blue furry teen teleported straight to the kitchens finding Skylar putting together, well, he thought it was a sandwich but since when did pickles and _nutella_ go together?

"_Mein gott_, what, pray tell, is that?" The boy exclaimed, nose wrinkling in disgust.

Skylar chuckled as he lathered a slice of bread with—holy God—Mayonnaise!

"I can sense you're disgust from over here elf," the sixteen year old teased before squishing his creation together and taking a huge bite out of it, "Mmm, pretty good."

"_Was?!_ I can't see how, I—wait," Kurt scowled moving closer toward the silver furred teen, "You sensed my disgust?"

Skylar nodded swallowing, "I'm an empath I can feel the emotions of others and manipulate them if I want to. I don't bother of course; it's not easy to do, it drains me quite a bit."

Kurt's jaw dropped, "You can feel others emotions? What else can you do?"

"Quite a bit actually," Skylar responded munching on his breakfast, "Super strength, agility and senses. I'm pyrokinetic, cryokinetic, telepathic and telekinetic. I can teleport as you know, create shields, a sonic shriek annnnnnnd I have a minor ability to heal others."

Kurt was utterly flabbergasted, never had he heard of a mutant possessing so many powers at once and half wondered how his head didn't explode.

"All of that, as well as your physical mutation? Wow."

Skylar went still, food forgotten and just to give him something to do he made his way to the fridge for the milk carton. Kurt watched him curiously, wondering what he had said to cause the boy to recoil back inside so much, but as it would seem, Skylar was in the mood for sharing, thankfully.

"My mutation didn't change my appearance, the ones who captured me did," the boy told him miserably returning to his place at the table, "They spliced my DNA with animals, that's why I look like this and a lot of those powers weren't originally mine. They used other mutants DNA to alter my X gene, so I would be a lot stronger."

Kurt was barely processing this new information and clearly he wasn't the only one.

"So we were right."

Head snapping up, Skylar was stunned to find Beast, Storm, Wolverine and the Professor all looking at him. His first instinct was to go on the defensive, get angry and storm out, but he was too tired to deny it anymore and he knew deep down these people genuinely wanted to help him. He should have been angry over the ease dropping, but he couldn't bring himself to be.

"Yes, I-I was experimented on," the teen admitted reluctantly, jumping when Kurt's hand moved to coil about his and he clung to it like a drowning victim; with Kurt he felt the safest, "but I don't know why. They wanted something from me, that I couldn't give, that's all I know."

"Well," Beast began pulling a small device from his pocket and holding it out for the boys to see, "We might be able to discover the why of it. We went back to the lab you were held in and found this. It's damaged, but I think I can extract information from it, through time."

"The lab," Skylar voiced confused, "How did you...?"

"Forgive me Skylar," Xavier began, "I took the memory from you while you were unconscious. We felt the need to find out where you were in kept, in fear that they may have been holding others. I swear to you it was the only part of your mind I ventured into."

And he was telling the truth, Skylar could tell, "It's okay Professor, I know you just want to help."

"Yes and with your permission, I thought it best to return you to some normality."

"Like what?" Skylar questioned suddenly wary.

Reaching into his blazer pocket, Xavier produced a watch very like Kurt's and held it out toward Skylar. Letting go of Kurt's hand, Skylar padded toward the professor and accepted the gift, pulling it onto his right wrist. The change was immediate, a blur ran along his body and gasping, Skylar studied himself absolutely transfixed.

His silver fur was replaced by pale gold skin, he had five fingers and instead of paws, he stood upon very human feet. His wings remained of course, but if Xavier was as clever as they said, he was sure he could hide that too.

"What's this for?"

"So you can go to school Skylar," Ororo told the boy pleasantly, "We figured it would be the best for you."

School! He hadn't set foot in one in almost four years, but the prospect of going back, to being normal again made him feel rather jubilant at the very idea of it.

"It may take you a while to catch up," Xavier began, but Skylar cut him off.

"It won't, they kept me up to speed in the facility, I'm smart, straight '**A**' student and they wanted to keep me that way," Skylar shrugged, "No idea why, but there you go."

That was indeed peculiar, but the Professor decided not to speculate for the moment, "School starts in thirty minutes, I have enrolled you and you are free to start today if you so wish."

Skylar beamed, "Yeah, I'd like that. As weird as it sounds, I miss classes...Math mainly."

Kurt cringed, "You like math?"

"What's not to like?"

Kurt laughed at that and linking arms with the teen he said, "Come on, we better get ready for school then. If we're quick we can catch a ride with Scott."

When the boys had departed Xavier ran a hand over his head with a tired sigh.

"He's still not telling us something," Logan stated eventually, voicing the Professor's concern out loud.

"No, I can't enter his mind like I would someone else's, but I can sense enough to know he is still keeping something from us."

"Do you think he knows who held him?" Ororo asked setting a hand on his tense shoulder.

"No, I believe him when he says he doesn't know," Xavier answered, "but I have a feeling he is lying about the why."

Logan grunted leaning against the countertop, "I can't see why he'd lie about that. By telling us we'd be more help to him, why keep it a secret?"

"Because," Xavier responded setting his brown eyes on one of his oldest friends, "I think he's protecting someone."

* * *

**TRANSLATIONS:**

**GERMAN:**

_Mein Gott_- My God

_Was?-_ What?


End file.
